


Day 110

by ONeillwith2ls



Series: Episode tags [10]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode: s03e17 A Hundred Days, Episode: s03e18 Shades of Grey, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22986769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ONeillwith2ls/pseuds/ONeillwith2ls
Summary: Jack's finally catching up on his paperwork, only to notice something strange about Sam's hours--that can't be right? Can it?
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Series: Episode tags [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1652002
Comments: 4
Kudos: 52





	Day 110

**Author's Note:**

> These wonderful characters are not my own they belong to the good folks at Stargate.   
> As always I have no beta my mistakes are my own.
> 
> I always apologize for this too, my grammar isn't always fantastic, so please forgive me, I hope the story makes up for it.

“Hey Jack,” Daniel said looking surprised “I thought you were on downtime?” he asked entering Jack’s office.  
“I’ve had enough down time for the whole year, forced downtime is not a holiday,” he said “especially since my replacement seemed like an idiot and rearranged my whole filing system.”

Daniel looked somewhat more confused at Jack “You-um-you had a filing system?” Daniel asked.

“Sure I did.” Jack replied sarcastically, “In and bin.”

“Right so—“Daniel paused “You seem confused.”

“They _must_ have this _wrong_.” He said looking at the papers again.

“What?” Daniel asked.

“It looks like Carter has been pulling the nightmare shift for the whole three months, in fact it looks like she didn’t sign off base at all, look here—” Jack told him Daniel complied and looked at the sheets. “Look she pulled the 40 hour shift then didn’t sign out and was back four hours later and then did another 40 hours.” He told Daniel.

“Three and a quarter hours actually.” Daniel corrected him.

“She shouldn’t have been doing it at all!” he exclaimed “but it repeats over and over—” he said “I’ve yet to see a single day she went home for the recommended—”

“Jack she broke the laws of physics for you—” Daniel interrupted “How long did you think that would take?”

Jack just stared at Daniel unable to believe what he was hearing. “It’s Carter, she’s wonder women she can do anything!”

Daniel nodded in frustration his hand shoved into his pockets “You really don’t get it do you?” Daniel told him. “Physicists take literally their whole life times just to come up with a theory which disproves our current understanding of the universe Jack, literally lifetimes are spent just coming up with a theory not proof!” Daniel said moving around frustrated on this spot “Sam found a theory and built a machine from scratch to prove it.”

“She said it was a team effort.” Jack stated his eyes almost glazed over.

“If by team effort you mean we all stood back in awe and watched her. We didn’t leave her, we were all worried actually, the first couple of weeks she was sitting in her lab just it looked like scribbles her lab was a mess she wouldn’t leave, she got edgy with everyone, said she’d never leave you behind you deserved to be home sooner then the year we could get a ship to you in.”

Jack remained silent but remembered a very young Captain Carter words _‘_ _I’ll always find a way to bring you home sir.’_ He fell silently to his chair the impact of Daniel’s words hitting him every second

as Daniel continued. “we took shifts being here, Teal’c and I, we’ve been with her in shifts, she’d come back in after four hours saying she couldn’t sleep, we let her for about a week then Teal’c would take her to kelno-reem suggesting to Sam that he accepted she couldn’t sleep but perhaps the kelno-reeming might help her relax her mind enough so she could carry on her work with a clear mind, she liked the idea, so when we got her to leave the lab she’d go with Teal’c, most the time it was meditation she’d sometimes fall asleep, Teal’c said it was never longer then four hours. Then she’d come back here and I would take over for a shift or two. She’s been dragged into the infirmary six times with exhaustion—”

“Hammond let this go on—”

“He had no choice, Sam wouldn’t let it go!” Daniel exclaimed “Our missions were all scrubbed so that Sam could build it, Jack I need you to hear this, _Sam broke the laws of physics for you_.” He emphasised again.

Jack swallowed hard. “She did near on 2000 hours in three months, these numbers aren’t incorrect are they?”

Daniel looked to Jack, thinking he might finally be understanding “No Jack, they’re exactly right.”

* * *

“Sir!” She exclaimed surprised to see him on her doorstep.

“Hey Carter, can I come in?” he asked her.

“Sure um, you’ll have to forgive the mess.” She said awkwardly. His eyes wide in shock. He had only ever been to Sam’s place on team nights but this chaos didn’t comply with the Sam Carter who neatly had her CDs Books and DVDs in alphabetical order (something he found really endearing), the Sam Carter who folded her own bed covers by military corners. The same Sam Carter now had disregarded ice cream cartons sprawled across her coffee table, three wine bottles (wine always went to Sam’s head, she must be having some hell hangovers!) and tissues stuffed around the sofa. She started picking up the tissues and stuffed them into one of the empty ice cream containers before he spoke to her. “Why?” was all he said.

She paused her back to his for a moment before she was able to communicate with her legs to turn and face him “I promised you I would always find a way to bring you home sir, remember?”

He took three steps forward and looked long and deeply into her wide blue eyes. He took three deep breaths and whispered to her “I hurt you, on Edora, you were talking, and I walked away to—another women.”

She shrugged “You’d started a life there with her—you had every right—”

He shook his head “No, I want Sam not Carter, I want to know how much I hurt you, give it to me its what I deserve.” He told her ready to take it.

“I—I, no sir.” She refused.

“Carter—” he growled angrily. “Do I have to order you to do it?”

“I don’t want to, sir.” She tried.

“Why not?” he demanded, then when she wouldn’t answer he tried to answer it for her, “how about how ungrateful I must seem? I’ve been catching up on my paperwork Carter and you know what I found? 2400 hours had past from when I left to me coming back and out of those 2400 hours you spent 2000 of them working through this? You broke the laws of physics for me and what did I do? Run into the arms of another women.”

Sam scoffed and shrugged “Please you can sleep with whoever you want its fine.” She said with a edge to her voice.

“You almost killed yourself for me Carter! Is that it?” he demanded “Is it!”

“Fine!” she snapped “You want to know what’s wrong? Here it is, its not that I did all those hours and broke the laws of physics for you. Its not that you seemed ungrateful, although it might have been nice to hear a thank you but that’s not what hurt. Nor is the fact that you ran into the arms of a women you barely know, I mean three months intensely like that, sure, I mean you were with her 24/7 right? I mean all that hurts don’t get me wrong or anything, it does hurt but those alone I could get over that’s not the problem.” She took a deep breath and looked him dead in the eyes “Its the fact that in order for you to get close to someone like you did Laira, for you to start a new life there, it means you didn’t believe me what I said I would always find a way to bring you home.” She told him. He stared at her for a moment while her eyes filled with tears. “I couldn’t bear it, all I could think of is what you went through in Iraq and the way you looked at Cromwell when he was here. I get why, I know why, he was the one who left you behind, but all I could think was one day you’d look at me like that, and I was agonising over it. I couldn’t have you hate me like that, be-because I missed you, every second you were gone. All I could think was that I let you down that you would never trust me—and I missed you and its all I could do and think of—” he finally took the last pace between them and stepped into the space.

He whispered a “C’mere.” And wrapped his arms around her.

“I’ve had some jerk asses for CO’s before and I never trusted them not to leave me behind—you’re the first one I believed that you’d always have my back, I know I can trust you with all of me.” She confided in him “I’m so sorry it took so long, I never would have stepped through that gate without you if I thought it would take that long to get back to you—” she whimpered. “I’d never ever leave you behind, ever.” She breathed the last word as Jack’s eyes closed in shame.

She was right, just as she always was, she was right.

When Laira had said given her story about the 100 days it had seemed so logical at the time, 100 days was a long time, he had thought, so he had put his trust in this 100 day period, if his team didn’t find a way, if he didn’t find a way to the Stargate in those 100 days, he would move on in his life.

He dipped his head into her neck and kissed her there lightly. “I put my faith in the wrong women.” He whispered tenderly to her. “You’re right, Laira had a beautiful story about mourning your old life for 100 days and I put my faith in her words, in the 100 days. I should have put all my faith in you— because you were day 101, I’m sorry, I am so so sorry.”

“Oh sir I missed you!” she responded her arms tightening around his neck.

He smiled sadly “Please believe me, there wasn’t a day went by I didn’t think about you.” He pulled back and looked down at her still crying his hands went to her face, his thumbs wiping away the tears. “So—“ he said to her “Now I know for certain don’t I?” he asked her.

“What sir?” she asked him.

“Like you said, I will always have your back Carter, and I’m glad you know I’d never leave you behind, and now I know someone else would break the laws of physics to not leave me behind.” He took a huge sigh of relief “I can’t tell you how good it feels to know someone has my back like that.”

She smiled a little through all her tears “Always sir.”

He was surprised to find his own eyes had sprung a leak, this incredible women! “Carter you broke the laws of physics for me!” he said the realisation finally hitting him, the feat she had gone to. “I wish I could promise you that.”

She smiled and shrugged “I don’t need someone else to break the laws of physics for me, I can do that on my own remember?”

“Right, right.” He said nodding his head. He thought for a moment about what to say before he settled with “I’ll remember this as a time it seemed impossible, yet it wasn’t. I’ll know you’ll always find a way to bring me home.”

She almost laughed nodding her head “I told you almost that two years ago.”

“And now—you did! I know you will,” he acknowledged, “I’m just sorry this is what it took for me to truly believe it.” He wrapped his arms around her again, the hug this time fully embraced for the get go. “I’d come for you too Carter, I’d never leave you behind either.” He whispered.

“I know.” She whispered.

He pulled back again and held her in place for a moment “Carter you _broke the laws of physics_ for _me_!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah.” She said with a humble shrug like it was something done every day.

"Thank you." he whispered to her before he asked for her “Explain to me how?” 

She smiled at him indulgently “You don’t want me to do that, you’ll get bored."

“Hey, I’ll have you know I have 100 days of technobabble to catch up on—” he said smiling at her fondly.

“Is that so?” she asked him.

“It is, so I demand it now.” He told her letting go of her hand and sitting on her sofa “Shall I call in a pizza?” he asked.

Despite the red puffiness of her eyes and her pinked face he still saw the way her eyes started to light up, she nodded as he dialed the pizza place and ordered their favourites. He then hung up and watched as she sat beside him and turned into him slightly. He shuffled a little closer to her and placed his arm behind her on the sofa and watched as she started to speak “It actually wasn’t whole an original idea sir, Sokar thought of it first. You see, it was when he tried to breach the iris by bombarding it with a particle beam. Sub-atomic particles—”

Jack looked at her as she began to speak. He wasn’t surprised when Hammond had snatched up on his recommendation for Sam to be promoted to Major from Captain. She really was an exceptional officer. Upon reflection Jack couldn’t actually believe he had given up on her coming for him, of course Carter would come for him! She was always coming for him! He’d lost his trust in other people the day that Cromwell had left him behind and he realised today—today was the first time he believed another human being would never leave him behind.

* * *

“Colonel O’Neill,” General Hammond said to him the next day as Jack stood in his office door.

“Sir, you um—” he looked confused as he saw Thor sitting in a chair in Hammond’s office. “—Thor buddy!” he exclaimed genuinely delighted.

“Jack you’d better sit down.” General Hammond said.

Jack’s arm swung him into the office as he sat down beside Thor.

“Someone has been stealing alien technologies.” General Hammond told him.

“Oh?” Jack asked genuinely surprised.

“Jack?” Hammond said almost shortly to get him to look up at him. Jack did as Hammond told him “Jack, its someone from Earth.”

“What?!” he exclaimed picking up the file which Hammond had clearly put together already His eyes widened at the list in from of him “All of these races sir?” he asked.

“Yes Colonel all of them.” He said sadly “Thor was the last of several of our allies to come to us with this disturbing news, Since you’ve been back from Edora, lets just say the timing couldn’t be more perfect.”

He scoffed and looked at the paper again “Well let SG1—” he started.

“I’m afraid we have to leave SG1 out of this one Jack—I need you to go rogue.”

Jack swallowed heavily. “Come on Thor, you can’t think any of my team would—"

“Colonel O’Neill, where we have no doubt of your team, we must make it seem as realistic as possible if our plan is going to work.” Thor replied to him.

“Plan sir?” Jack said looking confused at Thor then up to Hammond's face.

“I’m sorry Jack—”


End file.
